Pistorius defends self at trial

Prosecutors have pressed South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius to clarify his claim that his home alarm was switched off the night he shot his girlfriend.

Pistorius initially said his alarm “must have been switched off”, but in court was more certain, saying: “I turned the alarm off.”

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel accused him of lying, but the Olympic athlete blamed tiredness for the discrepancies.

Pistorius, 27, admits killing Reeva Steenkamp but says it was an accident.

The sprinter has insisted in court in Pretoria that he shot Steenkamp on February 14 last year after mistaking her for an intruder.

During the first set of questions on Friday, Nel repeatedly pressed Pistorius as to why his testimony in court did not match his earlier statement, asking him: “Are you too tired to continue?”

“I don’t need time. I’m tired. That’s not going to change,” Pistorius replied.

Nel then said: “I think you’re trying to cover up for lies. I’m not convinced by your answers.”

The judge intervened and asked Pistorius to clarify that he was not too tired to carry on.

The prosecutor moved on to a discussion of events in the athlete’s past, before returning to Pistorius’ account of the night Steenkamp was killed.

On Thursday, Pistorius said he had not intended to pull the trigger, even to fire at an intruder, and could not explain why he fired four shots through a toilet cubicle door.

“I didn’t have time to think about it,” he said in a trembling voice.

Nel, known as the “bull terrier” in South Africa for his fierce questioning, set out what the prosecution believed happened in the early hours of February 14, 2013 in Pistorius’ Pretoria home.

He said the two had an argument in the bedroom, and Steenkamp ran screaming into the toilet.

The chief prosecutor showed a police photograph of the bedroom, taken three hours after the shooting, which he said contradicted Pistorius’ account of where various items – including electric cooling fans and a duvet – had been placed at the time of the shooting.

“Your version is a lie,” Nel said – something the defendant denied.

Nel also suggested Pistorius was only concerned about himself during the couple’s three-month relationship.

“It was all about you, Pistorius,” he said, repeatedly.